·1 ,1
BRIEFS
Fir t AIDS
wal r e
$37,000
More than 1,000 con­
cerned citizens "stepped
out" Sunday, Sept. 29 to
raise $37,000 for the Well­
ness House of Michigan.
The lO-kiiometer march
in Royal Oak also served to
raise consciousnes about
the AIDS crrsrs in
Michigan and was the first
of its kind in the state.
The march drew walkers
of all ges, race and both
sexes, dramatizing that
AIDS knows no preferen­
ces.
The Wellness House
provides housing, food and
other resources for people
afflicted with the AIDS
virus.
,l-Ugh r auto
In urance
rate due
The Michigan
Catastrophic Claims As­
sociation board, made up
of five insurance company
executives, raised the sur­
charge for catastrophic
medical claims by $9.58
late last month.
The surcharge will jump
from $101 to $110.58 per
car beginning Jan. 1. The
hike will add up to $58 mil­
lion statewide.
The jump is a 9.5 per­
eent hike, three times that
of the projected inflation
rate rise and 36 times
higher than the $3 per car
charge the first year of the
charge in 1978.
Of the $110.58 each
motorist will pay, $78 will
cover the' unlimited
lifetime medical benefits
'for the approximately 370
state drivers who will be
seriously hurt in car acci­
dents next year. Another
$32 will reduce the $767-
million deficit for prior
medical claims and 12
cents per car will cover ad­
ministrative costs.
Schools will
offer choice'
Under a budget agree­
ment worked out in Lans-
_ ing by House-Senate
education committee mem­
bers, school districts across
the state will offer in-dis­
trict choice of schools on a
limited basis; provide for
university-run schools; a
longer school year for some
districts; and competency
tests.
Each district will have at
least two schools at any
grade level which will be
schools of choice.
Schools that implement
the choice plan would
receive a 20-percent boost
in transportation funds
from the slate to cover
busing costs. .
Critics say the plan Will '
lead to elitist schools.
FACT
even try
"From my po ition here t the tation,"
Cardena 'd, "I ee the Blac community
being targeted by ellers of m It liquor and
ild Irish Ro , thin that are d trimental to
th healthof elf ociety,j tforth irprofit."
"It' a form of genocide," Darby
ugge ted. "Th Bl c communi ty need to
upport th busin that upport it."
"We don't get Co e commerci Is,"
Cadena noted. ffWe get Coke- ponsored
commentari (public affairs po like On
Th Phone With Tyrone, which carry Coke
commercial). Because they are nation Hy
yndicated, we get no money for them, we do
it for free. Some big ad corporation or
middleman in New Yor gets paid."
"They're using us to their advantage,"
Darby charged, "the national advertisers are
making money off of us yet don't return any
of that money to the community."
Lo eo W
from tho e segment of the bu ine
community that receive overwhelming Blac
upport. Despite repeate� efforts by the
station to prompt one of the area' luxury car
dealeIS to buy an ad, thereby keeping hi
name before the Black community in
positive light, the dealer refmed to give b
to the community on which it feeds.
Darby believes the Black community
should respond to th e lights by busin
by abandoning them and their products,
CADE A ADMITS that locaUy the
tation hasn't received the upport it should
drugs said Desiree Cooper of New
Detroit, "but many communities use
the police th first line of defense.
There is a perception among legis­
lators that we in the community just
want to lock people up and not treat
them. We need to make clear to
them," what we really want she
dde4, CJDP. . ing that voters can
orgaiuze to create support for keep­
ing recovering families together.
THE MEETING CON-
CLUDED with guest speaker' Dr.
Creigs Beverly, an instructor at
Wayne State University's Depart­
ment of Social Work.
In 1989, Beverly -developed
programs in Detroit high schools to
improve students' academic skills
and to provide alternatives to crime
and drugs.
"What is Your Project?" was the
title of Beverly' peech. He defined
the "project" as an individual's per­
sonal commitment to improving the
lives of others.
"I have often asked my students
why they want to become ocial
workers, and the answer is always
the same: 'I want to help ome­
body,'" he said. "that can be a very
elitist statement," he added, explain­
ing that the statement implies that
one person has something of supe-
with "sacrifical murder of a 'white:
devil,' attempted homicides and the
firebombing of a Del Ray Beach,.
Flordia neighborhood.
Yahweh Ben Yahweh disagrees.
He contends that he, and the Nation
of Yahweh, a spiritual entity that has
been called by some "a cult," are
POSTER COMMENTARY - Jalled leader of the Nation of Yahweb,
Yah eh Ben Yab eh, make a plea for people involvement hUe a tiQg
trial on ario cbarg (pboto by N. Scott)
eminar emphasize
home-based help
rior worth to offer another.
"There's nothing wrong with
wanting to help somebody, but it's
better to say, 'I want to advance my
own humanity. tit
BEVERLY'WENT ON to out­
line step that community ervice
worke • social workers, mentors
and others could use in making their
efforts valid and successful, pe­
cially when working with Black -
youth.
"Number one, get rid of the
polities of refutation. Don't spend
your life trying to refute someone's
bad opinion about you; It's a non­
sense exercise. We must also be
concerned with disengaging from
reactive behavior. We must not have
limited possibilities.
"We also need to remove the idea
of 'I' without 'we' or 'us.' The big­
gest lie ever told is that you can do
omething by yourself. The (mental,
physical and spiritual health of an
individual is the health of the com­
munity. We must have a long-term
development agenda. We must no
longer use our abilities to explain
detrimental behaviors that are killing
our community. And, we can't
divorce issues of poverty and racism,
but they must be put in perspective."
being-persecuted and prosecuted for
groundless reasons. "If it can be done
to me and my group it can be done to
you and your group," Yahweh said
during an approximately 3O-minute
telephone hook-up wi th the
Thursday Luncheon groups last
Thurday at The Cotillion Club
Forum 13221 Purtian Avenue.
The "spiritual leader" of the
nation and 16 followers are awaiting
trail in a Miami, Flordia federal
detention facility.
According to Yahweh Ben
Yahweh, the reason why he has been
held without bond for 11 months is
because be "quoted from tbC Bible."
THE BmLE VERSE he quoted
is Luke 19:27" "But those of mine
enemie , which would not that I
hould reign over them, bring them
hither, and lay them before me," be
said. This was quoted before his
arrest
"How can they consider me a
danger to the-community for quoting
Chri t1" he ked.
The Nation of Yahweh, ha
20,000 members in 40 U.S. cities,
according to the group' leader, with
property and other ts in Miami,
Flordia and in Atlanta, Georgi . The
nation's worth estimated at is closer
to "a $250 million empire"-a
quarter of a billion doUars-than the
D.C
however, he mitted "it' going to lot
of trategic planning to get BI c to chan
their pending bi."
Reg rdl to th national and local
concerns, WKWM i doin ell, working
within the BI c and • panic communities,
offering a heal thy do of rap, R B, and
Blues, ccording to Darby. "Things could be
better, in terms of the overall climate in hich
e operate but we're providing a rviee 10
the community and that' it hould be."
tation.
Arbitron tin Company, with i 1
employee nd 20 million doll r in
operating revenu ,i major pl yer in a
itu tion which denie minoritie equ 1
opportunitie in radio, ccording to Le
Caden , ' M ic Director.
"Arbitron' y tern of determining
minority li nership hurts us," dena aid.
"It' called 'ethnic weighing', a fonnul used
to determine r t hare. We're not even in
the boo due to the way Arbitron determine
who' Ii tening to wh t tations. " Cadena
believe other methods than th presently
used must be employed if the true Black
li tenership i to be determined. "Blac
don't ee th importance of responding to
Arbitron diaries or phone calls."
By LEAH SAMUEL
SIIIUW";",.
In the pa t, teen drug use and
crime dealt wi th through insti tu­
tions-hospi tals, rehabi Ii tation
centers, jails and prisons-that
remove young offenders and addicts
form their home . At 8 recent emi-
r p nted by the F. cr (Family
Approach to Crime and Treatment)
program, representatives from com­
munity groups, service agencies and
institutions met at Little Rock Bap­
tist Church to discus wars to treat
young people in their homes with
their families.
"FACT was developed as a
partnership program of United Com­
muni ty Services and New Detroi t, "
explained Pat Ellis, UCS marketing
coordinator. We would like
policymakers, corporations, chools
and block clubs to consider the lower
costs and better results of com­
munity- and family-based solutions
to crime and drug problems."
The seminar featured four ses­
sions in which participants discussed
ways that institutions could tailor
programs in order to better served
and preserve families and com­
munities.
"Law enforcement should be the
last measure in handling crime and
Dr. Crelg Beverly, from the Wayne State University School of Social
Work, peaks to FACf seminar p rtlclp n bout I tlng BI ck
youth.
·Yahweh Ben Yahweh speaks to Detroit group
By NATHANIEL SCOTT
stlIg Writ.,.
DETROIT-Yahweh EenYahweh,
56, whose birth name was Hulon
Mitchell Jounior,and 16 followers of
the Nation of Yahweh, await trail
from indictments. steming out of a
federal grand jury that charged them
often quoted "$100 million empire."
We have practiced the beliefs for
the past 12 years," Yahweh s�id
explaining how the vast wealth was
amassed .
His contention is, "We worked
our way out of poverty," while the
indictment "charges ... racketeering,
murder and extortion ... while
masquerading as a religious people."
BE THAT AS it may, Yahweh
Ben Yah�eh and his followers will
eventually get their day in court and
it is evident by his speech, which at
times eemed to have been
imploring, that be seeks the help of
Black people power.
"We ("African American") must
lay aside all the difficulties that cause
us not to be able to work together,"
Yahweh Ban Yahweh said. "It is time
to put all difficulties aside."
Because Detroit bas been alluded
to as a city the nation wants to
"revitalize," Yahweh aid
"economic development in Detroit,"
would be "guaranteed" provided
they were set free.
Freedom in the near future seems
unlikely. The indictment, leading up
to the arrests, was the result of a
four- to- fi ve- year investigation.
Robert Rozier, the leading
government wi tness is now serving 8
22-year prison sentence as the result
of plea bargaining. Rozier is said to
have been a part of Yahweh's "inner
circJe. "
The Nation of Yahweh is taking
its case to the people.
In one published photo, a bill
board in an unidentified city reads:
"Help! Yahweh Ben Yahweh defense
fund. Call 1-800-2- Yahweh."
AN ADVERTISMENT
proclaiming, "We; the people, want
the false indictment of the Nation of
Yahweh and their religion dropped
and dismissed immediately because
it is unconstttutional," has appeared
in newspapers in Detroit and other
U.S. cities.
Yahweh Ben 'Yahweh's
conversation w sprinkled witb
references to' the Bible and the
Christian concept of religion and be
extolled, to a degree, tbe Nation of
Yahweh's business acumen.
In hopes of'bringing the story of
Yahweh Ben Yahweh into a closer
degree of understanding, the
Michigan Citizen poke at length to
an editor of a Miami new paper
seIVing the Black community.
Why Yahweh Ben Yahweh w
allowed to peak at length over the
telephone while being held without
bail?
S YAHWEH, A-10